Minx

Minx

Tension filled the room, so palpable that it seemed to suffocate the air. The atmosphere crackled with a charged energy, making Minx acutely aware of the hot waves grazing her skin.

The source stood stoic at the bar, her back to the passed-out owner, her cognac eyes surveying the room with intent. Minx knew the look. Her bodyguard back home would look the same way when entering a new room, or when multiple people happened to be around.

Assessing the threat.

Minx didn’t imagine the waves of heat - it wasn’t poetic either, it was literal. Billows of heat were rolling off the Halifax Maiden, slowly raising the temperature in the room. Minx could feel the small vines she’d let grow around the top of the bar slowly withering under the heat, and sent a quick jolt of magic to revive them.

Wraza’s eyes quickly darted to her, her thick, dark lashes narrowing as she focused on Minx. She’d been on edge ever since Sage had left with Kami, Kade, and Rhea. It was abundantly clear she didn’t trust any of them.

Especially Sage.

“Drink?” Alec asked the fiery Maiden from behind the bar. She didn’t answer, her eyes still focused on Minx, so he pulled a clean glass from under the bar and poured some thick amber liquid into it.

“Just in case,” he said, sliding the glass across the counter to rest by her left elbow. Wraza ignored him. The half-Demon shrugged and poured a few more glasses before coming out from behind the bar. The owner continued to snore, his face glued to the counter.

Alec approached Elinar, perched by the grimy front window, and left a glass for her on the windowsill. The She-Elf dipped her chin an inch in thanks, which Minx took as a sign she was finally warming up to the half-Demon. A few days ago, she would have stabbed him in the kidney.

He strode across the room to where Naru and Gabriela sat together at a table in the corner. Naru took the drinks from him, downing both as Gabriela continued to pepper him with questions. She might have grown up in a giant library with nearly every piece of history and information at her fingertips, but she’d never met a living, breathing Demon Hunter before.

Naru watched her scratch away in her journal as he answered her unending questions, her long hair plaited in a chestnut braid she’d tossed over her shoulder, while her spectacles slowly slipped down her nose.

Alec came to Minx last, handing her a glass as he took a seat by her. Minx left the glass on the table, untouched, as she continued to watch everyone else.

“Do you think she’ll torch the place?” Minx whispered, keeping Wraza in the corner of her eye.

Alec snorted. “As long as her lover comes back in one piece, we should be fine.”

Minx chewed her lip, feeling her stomach churn with anxiety.

“You don’t think something is going to happen, do you?” Alec questioned.

Minx shrugged. “No - yes, I don’t know.”

“Do you trust Sage won’t mess this up?” He asked, sipping his drink. She shot him a withering look.

“I trust Sage will do what she needs to. It’s her soul on the line, after all.”

“Kade then?” He quirked a brow.

That was harder to answer. She didn’t fully trust the Demon Prince. He’d tried to kill Sage for her soul, thinking it would break a curse placed on him that prevented him from using his magic. Then there was the added complication of Sage’s broken soul. He had half of it, and Minx wasn’t sure that once they fixed that issue and gave Sage her soul back, that Kade wouldn’t try to kill her again.

Or any of them, for that matter. Everyone thought the Maidens were all dead a few weeks ago, but now they had all seven, alive and kicking.

“Do you still not trust him?” Alec asked when she failed to answer. She sighed, sitting back in her chair. She wasn’t sure Alec could understand her feelings on the matter. Kade was his prince, even if he was only half a Demon. Alec had made it clear he believed in Kade, so his opinion was a little one-sided.

“Sage trusts him,” Minx said finally, then smirked. “Sage likes him.”

“I think she more than likes him if that scene in the alleyway was anything to go off of,” Alec chuckled.

Minx rolled her eyes, but she knew he was right. Sage and Kade had been close, far too close, for two people who supposedly disliked each other. And then there was that whole exchange between her and Kade before they took the Tear back to Vinciei.

It hadn’t been in her head either. Naru saw it too, and she had seen the way the Hunter’s shoulders fell. Minx had thought the Hunter had a thing for Sage for a while, and after seeing that she’d known she’d been right. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad for him, as Sage clearly had feelings for Kade.

Even now she could see how tight his eyes were while he spoke to Gabriela about weapons in his manor. Rejection was never easy, especially when feelings were one-sided. But she couldn’t fault Sage for it, either. Minx wasn’t even sure if Sage was fully aware of her feelings for Kade, so how could she possibly let Naru know that?

“How much longer?” Wraza snapped from the bar. Minx sat up straighter, pushing thoughts of Sage and Kade away as she met the Halifax Maiden’s eyes.

“I’m not sure. Her city is pretty big, and I am sure Rhea will want to make sure it’s suitable for your, uh, kids?” Minx said.

Wraza scoffed, “They aren’t our kids. They are refugees, urchins, the unwanted, and the oppressed.”

“Well, that’s a really long title, so what else could we call them?” Alec asked.

Minx kicked him under the table as Wraza pinned him with a burning look.

“What we mean is, it sounds like you and Rhea care for them, like parents would,” Minx said quickly before Wraza decided to torch the place in anger.

“They have no one else. Rhea and I are the only ones strong enough to protect them from the Hands.” Wraza grumbled.

“Have you thought about taking them from this place before? I mean, before this?” Minx questioned.

Wraza tensed, wrapping her arms around her chest. “At one time, we did have a system in place. A network of people who helped us get those in need out of the Twin Cities. But it fell apart.”

Naru and Gabriela had gone silent, listening to Wraza.

“You’re talking about the Scarlet network, aren’t you?” Gabriela asked, surprising them all.

Wraza dipped her chin in response, but remained silent. Something passed over Gabriela’s eyes, but she dipped her head down before Minx could gather what it was.

“The Hands found out about it and did what they do best,” Wraza said, her tone cold.

Minx could see how Gabriela’s body shrank into itself, and she realized Gabriela was feeling guilty. Her father was the Supreme, the head of the Hands, so her father had to have some involvement with what happened.

“Is it true that you’re from another world?” Wraza asked.

Minx nodded. “Our families were exiled to another world without magic. And that’s where Sage and I grew up.”

“Is it safe there?” Minx raised a brow, considering her question.

“Without magic, you mean?” She asked, and Wraza nodded.

“No,” Minx said, shaking her head sadly. “They might not have magic there, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe. It’s not magic that makes a place or people dangerous, it’s the people.”

Minx ran her finger over her still-full glass. “They still have wars, conflicts over the same things, murders, poverty - none of that has to do with magic.”

“Then your world is run by a bunch of Hands as well,” Wraza mused.

Minx laughed ruefully. “I guess so.”

“Nowhere is safe for us, then,” Wraza said.

“Vinciei’s city can be. It’s behind a wall of magic, and from what we could see, the people there were happy.”

“But it’s still ruled by a Maiden.” Wraza pointed out.

“Is that a bad thing?” Minx asked.

Wraza snorted. “Just because I am one doesn’t mean I am qualified to rule. Our families let the power go to their heads and look where it got us. Your family was forced into another world, sacrificing their daughters for a chance at power. One behind a wall she can’t escape. One alone in the wastelands, going crazy. And us, trapped in these cities with no one but ourselves.” Wraza snapped her eyes to Gabriela, who was still hunched over her journal.

“And who knows what happened to that one over there,” Wraza said, jutting her chin at Gabriela, her shark tooth earring swaying with the motion.

“Oh her? Trapped in a library-” Minx flicked her wrist and a vine slapped over Alec’s mouth, silencing him.

“It’s her story to tell,” Minx said, clearing her throat. Gabriela’s light blue eyes flicked up, meeting Minx’s, and the look in them indicated her inner struggle. Wraza was already on edge, so finding out Gabriela was the Supreme’s daughter might not go over well. The same thought seemed to hit Gabriela, who only shrugged slightly before turning back to Naru.

The Hunter had watched the whole exchange with a curious look but dove back into discussing goblins with ease.

“What was that?” Wraza asked, her eyes narrowing at them. Alec continued to struggle with the vine curling around his head, while Minx tried to think of something to distract Wraza with.

Then she felt it, a cracking deep inside her core. The sensation knocked the air from her lungs so quickly Minx doubled over, gasping. She barely had a second to register Wraza and Gabriela in the same position before the entire room was hit with a massive wave of magic.

It was as if someone had flung it out from far away, but they could all feel the magic crawling over their skin as it flew by. The entire Inn vibrated with the force, causing long-gathered clusters of dust bunnies to drift down from the rafters.

Minx coughed through the dust, trying to catch her breath.

“What the hell was that?” Wraza gasped out.

The air hissed between them, and three figures appeared.

Minx had to blink through the dusty air, her mind struggling to grasp the sight before her.

Kade was crouched over Sage, her leg twisted grotesquely beneath her. The Demon was whispering something to her, far too low for Minx to make out, but even if she could have, Wraza’s screams would have drowned them out.

“Rhea!” A gut-wrenching wail came from the fire Maiden as she clasped Rhea’s bloody face between her hands. “What happened?”

“That bitch was crazy!” Rhea half sobbed, half laughed.

“Who?” Minx asked, finally finding the breath to stand, and rushed to Sage’s side. “Kami? Did Kami do this?” The Kami Maiden had been unhinged, and her powers far outpaced all of them put together. Maybe the trip to Vinciei’s city had been too much for her addled mind, and she finally broke?

“No,” Sage sobbed. Kade wrapped an arm protectively around her, pulling her mangled body close to his. Minx could see his leg was just as messed up, but despite the pain he must have felt, he lent himself to Sage, broken against his chest. The leg was her only injury, and it was healing fast. She let out a sigh of relief.

“The other one - she called herself the Goddess incarnate.” Rhea scoffed.

“Vinciei? Vinciei did this?” Minx asked, shocked, her eyes roaming over Sage’s body as she clung to Kade.

“She killed the other one.” Rhea shook her head, her tearful eyes meeting Wraza’s. “She took the other one’s power. I didn’t know that was possible.”

Minx felt the earth shift beneath her. Vinciei had not only killed Kami, but stolen her gift?

“You promised!” Wraza screamed, fire licking her fingertips as she glared down at Sage. Kade growled, his eyes flashing red in warning.

“My love, it wasn’t her fault. That shiny-haired vixen blindsided me.” A rueful smirk curled at Rhea’s lips. “She’s formidable.”

“She’s dead.” Sage hissed. “I’m going to rip her throat out.”

Something tingled at the back of Minx’s mind, alerting her. She gasped, “Save that for another time. My plants sense people coming - a lot of people.”

Elinar looked through the dirty window, then dipped back.

“Hands.” She hissed lowly.

Rhea’s eyes widened with stark fear, and Wraza pulled her to her side.

“The Tear,” Naru said quickly. Kade held it out for him, and the Hunter snatched it up, turning to Rhea and Wraza.

“Quickly, think of a safe place we can all go to.” He said, urging the group to gather around him.

“Fuck you. This is all your fault.” Wraza spat. “I’d rather die here than let you lot into our hideout.” Before Naru could argue, Rhea gently patted Wraza’s left cheek.

“These are our people, my love. Like it or not, we’re all tied together now.” She nodded towards Naru, who held the Tear between them. Gabriela grasped the Hunter’s arm, her eyes wide behind her spectacles.

Minx and Alec helped Kade pull Sage up, just as Elinar urged them to hurry. The She-Elf was the last to place a hand on Naru’s shoulder before the front door exploded. Minx felt her stomach drop as the world turned around her. Unlike the last time, it didn’t move quickly. They seemed to be swimming sluggishly through a water-colored world, and she assumed it had to do with the amount of people traveling at once.

Then she felt the ground form under her feet, and the swirling world turned solid.

“Don’t make me regret this, Hunter,” Rhea said softly, stepping to the side.

A mesmerizing glow emanated from an entire underground city illuminating the darkness behind Rhea. The vibrant colors and intricate architecture of the makeshift city were like nothing she’d ever seen before.

It was a sight to behold.